The Crane-Flies of New York — Part 1 907 



4. Size small, wing under 5 mm.; bright yellow, the abdomen yellow; antennae of the female 



short. [Erioptera pubipennis O. S. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 228. 1859.] 



(Plate XXXIV, 66.) M. pubipennis (O. S.) 



Size larger, wing over .5.3 mm.; abdomen dark brown; antennae of the female longer. 

 [Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 505-506, pi. 27, fig. 37. 1916.] (Plate XXXIV, 67.) 



M. fultonensis Alex. 



5. Size small, wing under 3.5 ram.; basal deflection of Cui near the fork of M. [Proc. Acad. 



Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 506-507, pi. 27, fig. 38. 1916.] (Plate XXXIV, 68.) 



M. nova-caesariensis Alex. 

 Size larger, wing over 4 mm.; basal deflection of Ciu beyond the fork of M on Ma+i 6 



6. Antennae dark-colored; body coloration grayish brown. [Erioptera hirlipennis 0. S. 



Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 228. 1859.]' (Plate XXXIV, 65.) 



M. hirlipennis (0. S.) 



Antennae with the basal segments pale; body coloration pale brown. [Erioptera forcipula 



O. S. Mon. Dipt. N. Amer., part 4, p. 163. 1869.] M. forcipula (O. S.) 



The species identified above as being M. comatus may not belong to this 

 species, which was described from western North America. The writer 

 has seen only females (from Maine), but he has compared this material 

 with Doane's types (also females) and cannot separate the material on 

 the female sex. 



Genus Helobia St. Fargeau et Serville 



1825 Helobia St. Farg. et Serv. Encyclop. Method., Ins., vol. 10, p. 585. 



1830 Sijmpleda Meig. Syst. Beschr., vol. 6, p. 282. 



1865 Idioneura Phil. Verb. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien, vol. 15, p. 615. 



1886 Symplectomorpha Mik. Wien. Ent. Zeitung, vol. 5, p. 318. 



In the genus Helobia there are four described species, one of which, 

 the local H. hyhrida, is probably the most widely distributed of all crane- 

 flies, ranging from India over Europe and Asia, thruout North America, 

 and southward along the Andes to Chile and Argentina. Future collecting 

 will undoubtedly extend the range even more. The immature stages 

 are spent in moist earth and sand. 



Helobia hyhrida (Meig.) 



1804 Limonia hyhrida Meig. Klass., vol. 1, p. 57, pi. 3, fig. 17. 



1818 Limnobia punctipennis Meig. Syst. Beschr., vol. 1, p. 147, pi. 5, figs. 2, 3, 7. 



1848 Limnobia cana Walk. List Dipt. Brit. Mus., vol. 1, p. 48. 



Helobia hybrida is a grayish fly, with three brown stripes on the 

 prescutum; the wings are whitish, with a supernumerary cross-vein in 

 cell i?2 and the second anal vein curiously bisinuate (Plate XXXVII, 98). 

 The species is common everywhere. It is the earliest of the vernal 



